Rurouni Kenshin: Legend of the Bloody Blade
by SamuraiKupo
Summary: Kenshin goes head to head against even worse of a threat than Shishio.rnSIDENOTE: THIS IS MY FIRST FANFICTION. I'D LOVE TO HEAR PEOPLE'S THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS. AKA CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM.
1. Slaughter

**Chapter 1: Slaughter**

The poor boy hid helplessly as he watched everything he knew and loved being killed. His family, his friends, his whole life being destroyed before his eyes. A group of bandits had come, bull-rushing into the village of defenseless innocents. The men ran home to fetch their weapons, but none ever made it. The women and children were mercilessly slaughtered.

He tried to keep from crying or making any noise, so as not to let the murderers hear him. However one caught him and they were about to slaughter him, when all of a sudden a bloody flash strikes them all down. Crying on his hands and knees, he overlooked the many dead. He saw his little sister, only two-years old. His mother and father, who both had expressions of mass terror on their faces. He looked up and saw the last standing man, who seemed to have been the one who saved him.

"Are you okay boy?" The strange man asked ; the boy sobbingly replied,"Y...y...y..ee.e.es s..s...sir...". "That's good to know, you seem to be the only survivor..." ,There was a brief pause," This is a very cruel act that these murderous bastards pulled...I can't believe people..." The boy stared at him, attempting to wipe the tears away. "T...t...thank y...you." He stuttered, still fighting to hold back his tears.

"It's okay...I only wish I had gotten here sooner..I...I'm sorry..." The boy just stared. "I'm going to go look for any other survivors. I reccomend you find a good place to hide and stay there, just in case any more of these ugly rats decide to see what happened to the other half of their pack." With that the man wandered into the distance, and disappeared out of the boy's sight.

A day later...

The boy sat on top of a rock, staring at all the lumps of dirt in the ground. He had made graves for his friends and family. He had given a proper burial to all of them, even the bandits. While he sat, he stared at the sun as it made it's way to another part of the world. Even now he was choking back tears, there was a massive lump in his throat, his eyes burned and his heart ached as though he had just been stabbed repeatedly. "You...buried them all...even the bandits..." The voice from behind startled the boy and he jumped with fright to look behind him. It was the man from yesterday. "I'm sorry, but you are the sole survivor of this village..." The strange man looked as though he was feeling the same way the boy was. "You're very caring...you're heart is big, even to someone like the scum that killed your village..." He put his hand on the boys shoulder and looked down upon him. 'What is your name, boy?" He asked. The boy replied"I...I'm Shinta...Shinta Himura".

"Shinta, huh? That's name doesn't seem to fit your personality... How about I call you Kenshin from now on?" The boy stared and repeated, "K...Kenshin...".

"Yes, Kenshin. Say Kenshin, how about you come live with me? I've got plenty of room and food for you. I'll even train you in the art of sword-fighting." A light appeared in the boys eyes, he thought that if he could become as stron as this man, he could prevent this from ever happening again. "Yes sir. I would like that." The man looked down softly,"Don't call me Sir, to you it's Hiko, Seijurou Hiko. I will train you in the art of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. From now on, you are my apprentice."

"Yes sir Mr.Seijurou! I mean Sensei Hiko!" With that done, Kenshin looked back among the graves once more. He promised them he would become stronger, for their sakes. Hiko Seijurou, and Kenshin Himura then began to walk northward; where Hiko's cabin lay, and Kenshin's training was to begin...


	2. Shattered Peace

Chapter 2: Shattered Peace

"Kenshin! Kenshin!" Kenshin immediately snapped his eyes open and responded. "Yes, Ms. Kaoru? What is it" Kaoru had just found him out on the back porch, "There's someone here to see you. He says he's a friend from 'the old days'."

"Oh really? Did he give you his name?" Kenshin asked suspicously. "Yes, he called hime self Shingen Kimore, I think it was?" Kenshin jumped up with anticipation " Ol' Kimore? I haven't seen him since I left the revolution, that I haven't! I wonder what he's up to these days!" Kenshin began walking with Kaoru back toward the living room. As he walked in, he was greeted with a familiar smile. "Shingen! How great to see you after all these years! What have you been up to these past ten years?"

The bearded man stood up, gave that same warm smile and greeted Kenshin back, "Kenshin, good to see you again. I should ask you the same thing, seeing as you just up and left the regiment. Though that aside, I have important information for you. If we could be alone for a while?" Puzzled, Kenshin looked over to Kaoru and asked if they woulf leave them for a while. They reluctantly got up and left.

"Now, what is it that is so secret, I had to send my friends out of the room?"

Kenshin interrogated his old friend, "Very, very important news I'm afraid. But first, before we get into that, how have been since you left? You seem as fit as you were back then." Shingen seemed worried, depsite his friendly attempt at playing catch-up. There was a gloominess in his face the whole time...

After hours of talking, Shingen decided to bring up the main reason for his appearance. "Yes...I remember those days like they were yesterday. But, now to the reason I came here in the first place." Kenshin gave him a curious look,"There's been much trouble down in Azuchi... There's a mass murderer on the loose." He began to search through his coat for something, "He claims to be a descendant of the legendary Iga nija, Hattori Hanzo." Kenshin's face went into a cold stone stare. "You mean...the one that served under Lord Ieyasu Tokugawa when he took control of Japan?" Kenshin asked grimly. "The very same. Some gaurds in the city ran into him and some of his "soldiers" down near Azuchi Castle. The results were brutal...they were all mutilated in horrible ways, body parts strewn everywhere. We couldn't even tell who they were for a while, until they were reported missing." Kenshin's expression went from curious to horrified in the blink of an eye. "H...how could anyone do that..." Kenshin asked himself in a low tone. "After that, he began killing our men randomly. Every other night we find bodies in some strange location. All torn in pieces. It's been like this for three weeks now, we still don't even know why he's doing it...and just two days ago he sent us this letter. This," He pulled an envelope out of his coat," Is the main reason I'm here. Read it. You'll find it quite interesting..." Kenshin gave a curious look of fear and opened the letter. it read: "These pitiful grunts are no fun. There is only one person whom I can get a challenge out of now. The man who defeated Makoto Shishio... Battousai the Manslayer...I am coming for you, and I will kill all around you to get to you if I must.**" **At reading this, Kenshin's face turned from fear to deep anger. He curshed the letter between his fingers. "Thank you...Shingen. You may leave now, as I have important business to take care of, that I do..." Shingen got up, turned around and looked back. "I'm sorry...but we even sent our best men on him. They came back in pieces. You're on your own this time..." At that, Shingen Kimore turned around and began walking. The painful look on his face was that of extreme guilt.


	3. Escape from the Devil

Chapter 3: Escape from the Devil

Kenshin's face turned red with anger. He had hoped he could live peacefully after defeating Shishio. However, it appeared that someone would always be after him. He needed to think quickly, for Kaoru and Sano's and all the other's sakes. The first place to escape to that came to his mind was the Takeda Mansion that he had fought Aoshi the first time. He knew it had been pretty much abandoned since then, and that no one really wanted to buy it. It was the perfect hiding place with it's thick walls and long hallways. Perfect for a hiding place. At one he began running intothe back porch. He slammed the door open and started screaming "You've all got to get the hell out of here now!" The children and Kaoru jumped," We are not safe here right now, we need to get out of here and find a place to hide, and if you follow me I know the perfect place!" He began running toward the gate, "Come on! We have no time to lose!" Sanosuke at once jumped up, grabbed a strange package and the kids and started running.

"Come on, if Kenshin says there's trouble afoot, chances are he's right. We have no time to waste!" Within minutes they were all running through the alleyways. Though it appeared that some of them were getting tired, so Kenshin stopped them to rest for a minute. He thought them a safe distance away now.

"Kenshin...exactly why are we running now?" Kaoru asked him in that demanding tone of hers. "There's someone from Ozuchi coming for me, he says he'll kill you all as well. I can't let that happen. He's a cold blooded killer...just like Jine' was. Except he's worse. He kills everyone he sees as an adversary, and anyone around them. I don't like his attitude about it either... he seems to be more calm about it than Shishio, and if he's more deadly than him, then I think we're really in for a hellish time." Yahiko turned his head from his rest and began questioning Kenshin as well," How do you know all this, Kenshin? Is it something to do with that man from before?" "Exactly. That man gave me this letter. It's from the killer. He claims to be descendant of the Iga nija from the beginning of the Tokugawa Era, Hattori Hanzo."

"I read a lot of thing about him when I was with the Yakuza...they say he was called the shadow, and that he was able to slay the Takeda army's greatest officer, Yukimura Sanada with a flick of his wrist. If he's that powerful...then..."

"That's exactly why I'm afraid, Yahiko. I need to find you all a safe place to hide before I even think of confronting him." Kenshin's state of mind then suddenly changed back to fear," Why are we still sittiing here! We need to go!" At that they began to run down the darkened streets of Tokyo at night. The glare in Kenshin's eyes was that of his most dangerous state of mind. If anything came out, he was ready to beat them to a bloody stump.

After about ten minutes of running, they slowed down to a man in the street, asking some advice. "Excuse me, may I ask where the nearest resta...hey hey, what's the rush folks? What's wrong?" He grabbed Yahiko's arm as he ran by," What's wrong?"Yahiko just turned around and gave a hateful look, punched the man off his feet and kept running. The man got up, dusted himself off and gave a suspicious smirk. He put his hat back on and began walking in the same direction they were heading. Though after a few seconds, any sign of him disappeared into the wind.

It was an hour later, they were all tired of running and were walking wearily down the forest path to the Takeda Mansion. Sanosuke thought he had been hearing sounds behind him, and was very on edge. He gripped the extremely large leather pack tightly. Kenshin looked back at Sanosuke. He knew why he was so tense so he slowed down to ease back to speak to him. "What is wrong Sano. Are you hearing those noises as well?" Sanosuke spat on the ground as he walked then answered, "Yeah. I keep hearing some kind of wooshing sound, not like the wind. But like something moving, very quickly. I think we're being followed." "Do you? Perhaps we should stop and greet our little tailing friend." Sano smirked, "Nah, you go on ahead. I'll take care of this one, you know where you're going. I'll catch up with you later."

Kenshin gave him a grave look. He hoped that Sano would be alright. He gave him an agreeable nod sped up the pace a bit, as Sano dropped back.

Sanosuke went from slow, to a complete stop. He heard the sound still, getting closer. He then heard it so loud as though it were almost right next to him. Sanosuke gripped the package tightly, then whirled it around, knocking off the branch of a tree. The was something that had made contact with his item. As it came unraveled, a newly forged Zanbatou was revealed. It was just as long, but thinner than the old one. And on the side of it was the man from before. In shock from the blow, he dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks. "Heh, thought you were sneaky, eh? Exactly who are you, and why were you following us!" The man had lost his hat, revealing a bald head except for a small ponytail in back. He got up and cracked his body back into shape.

"I...am a servant of the honorable Hattori Hanzo XVII. He sent me to trail you, as soon as our 'messenger' came back with the news of your escape." Sano's expression went grim, "Messenger? Wait...you mean...", The servant chuckled maniacly. "Yes, the messenger is the man who arrived at your door before, and gave the Hitokiri the note. We managed to capture him in Ozuchi, and he pleaded for his life. So we decided to make use of him to lure the Battousai out. At first he didn't want to do it, but we have our ways of convincing people."

He began to laugh as Sano became angrier. "Ya know what? I don't give a damn if he was just part of a trap, that doesn't stop the fact that I'm about to turn you into stringed beans, you disgusting sack of puss!" With that, Sanosuke began to twirl his sword through the air, cutting the trees down around him, which fell into the spot where the servant was. "Ha, where's that idiotic laughter now, huh?" Sano gloated when he saw the trees had hit the spot. "Mwehehehekikiki, you really think that something as as slow and feeble as that can take me? Ha, I'd hate to see you against Lord Hanzo, he'd cut you and clean you like a fish!" Sano turned around and stared the servant in the eye. "Don't think that's all I've got up my sleeve, because this is not the same weapon as before." Sano made a quick slash with it, Catching the cocky servant by surprise. Though the servant dodged it, he expected Sano to have to take his time before he could mae another attack. He began to reach into his pouch to pulls some shuriken out, but before he could, the sword came upright immediately and struck him in the left side of his leg, dropping him like a fly once more. "I told you, don't underestimate this weapon, it's improved far beyond my old Zanbatou. You're going to have to really think if you want to beat me!" With that the servant flipped back up, drew two daggers, and took a ready stance, The smirk was gone and he was serious as ever. Sano drew back his sword, and took his own stance, ready to fight.

The first battle in a war of hellish proportions had begun.


	4. Presence of the Shadow

**Chapter 4: Presence of the Shadow**

The two fighters stared each other down harshly. The ninja servant had become less cocky and more irritated. Sanosuke was tensing up his body, readying for any blow to be dealt to him. As they stared each other down, Sano broke the silence, "Are you just gonna stand there all day or are you going to attack me? Or could it be that you're scared of me now that I've swatted you a few times?" The servant just stared angrily at him. "Heh, big change I guess I'll have t- - -" Before Sano could finish the servant had disappeared. All that could be heard was a little bit of crackling that could be heard in every direction. There was no telling where he would come from next. Sano's eyes shifted nervously, he knew the guy was fast, but he didn't think he was that fast. Before he could catch it, a throwing knife pierced through the top of his left shoulder, making him drop the zanbatou down. "Grahh...what the...where did that come from!" He couldn't tell where the servant would strike next. Despite the wound, he was still able to lift his sword. Sano smirked, then began swinging the blade around and around, cutting down the surrounding brush. Through doing this, he caught the ninja servant off guard and he fell from the branches of an oak tree, right onto his knee. The ninja expressed no pain, just jumped up, and threw more knives at Sanosuke. Though these ones Sano side-stepped quickly, then brought his sword up.

The servant used the blade as a way to propel himself higher into the air so he could reach one of the other trees.

Sanosuke began shifting his eyes again, he could see slight bluish black blur all around him now. He watched carefully as the blur circled him in the tree branches. Then as a shuriken came flying at him, Sanosuke stepped to the side swiftly and caught one of the tips. He the hurled it at the blur, hoping to hit it. It was a successful hit and the ninja stopped, fell and flinched as he hit the ground hard. Sanosuke then ran as fast as he could toward the servant's location, jumped and slammed his blade into the ground. It was unsuccessful though, as the ninja just barely managed to escape. Sanosuke's wound began to sting harshly, and his vision became blurry as he noticed the amount of blood he had lost. "Man...I have to beat this guy...and fast...before I end up...as some forest animal's next dinner..."

Meanwhile...

The door to the Kamiya Dojo was open, and a lone figure stepped in. Though he was not really alone. Outside there were twelve other servants of his, waiting for him to come out. He looked around the dojo, and the let loose a loud laugh from behind his mask. "Hurraahahahaha, so I see the Battousai has fled before I got here. Looks like that messenger worked as planned. Now, as to where they went..." The man dropped to the ground, and slowly crawled across, as though seacrhing for something. He then noticed slight tracks in the dirt outside. "Hmmm, it would appear that he took the alleyways. Not very smart, as there are a lot of ways to leave tracks in alleyways...Hehehehehe."

Just then a servant came in, "Sensei Hanzo. We have information on where the Battousai fled to. One of the spys you had on the town's streets began tracking them a few hours ago. Another man was ordered by the first to report that the Battousai and his company were heading toward the eastern forest. It would also seem that they left Tokyo into another town nearby, and are heading towards an unknown location. That is all the info we have, Sensei." Hattori grinned. "Good, hopefully the spy is slowing them down for me. We are to begin following the Battousai's trail, go outside and tell the other Iga to go to the back alleys and meet up with me. We are going hunting...Hehehehehehe" The servant bowed, and then disappeared into the darkness.

Hattori then headed out back, and began to follow the tracks left by Kenshin and the rest of them. "The fools should of realized that by heading to the forest, it makes them easier to trail. Oh well, the sooner I find them, the sooner I get to taste the Battousai's blood. Mweheheheheheheheeeeee...". With that Hattori began to speed up, becoming nothing more than a sound. With Sanosuke fighting the servant, and Hattori closing in quickly, time is running out for Sanosuke and the others.

The battle rages on; and Hattori Hanzo, eager for the taste of blood, closes in quickly.


	5. Inescapable pursuit

**Rurouni Kenshin: Legend of the Bloody Blade**

**Chapter 5: Inescapable Pursuit **

In the forest where Sanosuke and the ninja were fighting, there was not a sound to be heard. Complete silence fell over the two enemies as a slight wind kicked up and blew away some dead leaves from the ground. Sanosuke has one had over his wound, and the other one the zanbatou. "The bleeding isn't stopping…why?" He thought to himself. But there was no time to think as the servant disappeared again. Sano's eyes shifted around in a nervous panic. He knew there was no chance of survival if he was hit again. He struggled to stay on his feet and keep his focus. His vision blurred more and came back just as another knife came at him. This one he jumped away from, but that wasn't the real attack. Just as Sano rolled and regained balance, a swift slash from the servants katana flew down upon him. Leaving a deep gash across his chest, the ninja retreated back into the trees to prepare for another strike. Sano became incredibly afraid at that moment. The pain was shooting through him from both his shoulder and his chest, he was losing blood quick. Something had to be done. Without thinking, Sanosuke began blindly swinging his sword. But the more he did this, the dizzier he got, and the more obnoxious laughter he heard from the trees…

Kenshin and company had just reached the Takeda Mansion, and were taking their long needed rest. Everybody was breathing and sweating like never before, but Kenshin's thoughts were elsewhere. Sano was still out there, fighting whatever it was that was following them. If he was killed, Kenshin wouldn't be able to live with himself again.

With that, he rose to his feet, took a breath and told the others "I'm going out to look for Sano. He's out there fighting for us right now, and I think he may need backup. You all stay here and don't go near any windows, and don't go outside no matter what."

They were too exhausted to respond, so only a nod came from Yahiko and Kaoru.

Without waiting for any response, Kenshin charged out the door and began running back to where they had left Sano. He knew something was wrong, he could feel it in his bones, and smell a faint blood fragrance in the air. He had to hurry, before Sano was killed.

Sano dropped to his knees, and lost all sense of feeling. His whole body was numb, and he was dizzy. He didn't know how much blood he had lost, he just knew it was a lot. Determined not to die without taking that annoying nija servant with him, he stumbled to his feet and dropped the zanbatou. It was too heavy, he couldn't lift it nor feel it anymore. But his vision slightly restored and another knife came at him. He sidestepped it, and remembered last time as he jumped back and the sword flew down before his eyes. The blade struck the ground and got stuck for a second. Sano took this to his advantage unconsciously and mechanically drop kicked the ninja. The blow landed in the back if the servants neck, and he wasn't ready for it. He had become so air-headed because of the chest blow that he let his guard down too much. The blow stunned him and he dropped to his hands and knees. Just as he was recovered and ready to jump back up, an hard fist landed right into his headband, cracking both the the headband, and his skull.

The blood ran warmly down the servants face as he dropped to the ground. His head was throbbing and he became paralyzed. The last thing he remembered was looking into Sano's eyes, and seeing nothing. Not a sign of consciousness or thought at all. Then everything went black…

Kenshin legs were becoming numb from all the running, but he kept going. The smell of blood was growing and he could hear a loud scream. He was near, and he knew it. Just as he turned to his right, he knew what he saw. Sano consistently kicking the servant in the side. He could tell the servant was dead, but Sano kept kicking brutally. "Sano! STOP, he's dead! Stop kicking him!" Kenshin grabbed Sano's arms and tried holding him back, but Sano flung him into a tree and collapsed to the ground.

Kenshin crawled over and shook Sano. He noticed the massive amount of blood on the dirt and began ripping Sano's shirt up to make some makeshift bandages. After the wounds were covered, Kenshin dragged Sano over to a tree and set him upright. Several minutes later Sano's eyes opened and Kenshin let loose a sigh of relief. Sano, somehow was able to stand despite his injuries. Though as soon as he stood he stumbled but Kenshin caught him. "Come on Sano, I'll help you walk we need to get to the Take---" He was going to say Takeda Mansion but out of his peripheral vision he saw a gleam of light from a piece of steel, and a pair of eyes. He brought Sano to his feet and said "Sano, someone is here, we need to get out of here." At that they began running, toward the mansion, but just as they reached the bridge only a mile and a half away, Kenshin knew that if they kept going, they would endanger the whole group. Without thinking Kenshin stopped and looked back. Just as a strange shape was speedily approaching, Kenshin became worried. Then, without thinking he brought out his sword and flipped it around to the sharp end, and cut the bridge's support ropes, dropping them into the raging river below. The stranger stopped at the broken bridge, he looked down with an air of arrogance as two more of his kind approached. He turned calmly and ordered them "The job is done. The last threat to Master Hattori's plan is dead. Go give him word, I'll look around for the bodies.". Without replying, the two servants disappeared into the darkness of the forest once more. The ninja then looked down once more, and began hopping down to investigate…


End file.
